


Beneath a Pale Moon

by AriaDream



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-09 13:35:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19888681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriaDream/pseuds/AriaDream
Summary: A Singularity story inspired by Bloodborne! A holy grail has been introduced into a timeline so deviant that it's almost, but not quite, a Lost Belt and threatens to push it over. Can it be retrieved in time? Spiritual successors exist and the key to the puzzle will lie with the blood. Enjoy!





	1. A short beginning

The city was shrouded in darkness despite the full, pale moon that rose overhead. Paradoxically, instead of illuminating, the light of the moon seemed to cast only more shadows, flickering and deceiving the eye. Torches did not help, adding glare before contributing to the shadows. Booted feet crunched on cobblestones as two cloaked figures walked through the darkened city.

“We have to get that to the Church, first thing.”

“Mmm hmm,” the second figure hummed, lifting what he was holding towards the moon. It was a golden chalice, with upraised engravings. The gold caught the light of the moon and a torch together, making them gleam with a reddish hue.

“I can’t help but feel that it’s very dangerous. We should fear it, as much as we fear the blood.” The second figure said quietly, watching the first with concern. He was a tall man with scruffy brown hair and a goatee. His eyes rested on the chalice before wincing away. “It’s… I can’t see it.” He muttered, rubbing at his eyes as though they were paining him. The real pain, though, was in his mind. “It’s not supposed to be here.” He felt that deeply, that the cup they had discovered was fundamentally wrong. The first man stopped and turned towards him.

“Do you really think we can trust the Church with this?” he asked, pushing back his cloak. Golden hair, pale in the moonlight, was revealed. Blue eyes stared at his darker companion with heartfelt intensity. “You know they don’t fear the blood. Why would they fear to use this?” There was a moment of hesitation and it was telling. But then his companion responded.

“We can trust in Father Franklin. He’ll see that it’s sealed away and only investigated responsibly.” He knew the flaw within his words and so did his friend. The blonde man huffed a laugh.

“You think anyone would be able to investigate this responsibly?” he asked. The dark man reached up to scratch his head, beneath his hat before pushing it back. It was a broad brimmed hat, suitable to catch and funnel the wet away on a rainy day.

“What other choice do we have? Are you suggesting we hide it?” he shook his head, scruffy ponytail swaying with the motion. “Things like that will be found. It’s just not safe. I know you want to write your name in the stars, but it can’t be this way.” Knowing the deepest nature of his best friend was hard, sometimes. Knowing he aimed to live his life fast and hard, leaving behind a great imprint of himself, at any cost… to the dark man, the cost was liable to be too high. But then, it was his nature to protect everyone around him, no matter the cost.

“We can do it!” A hard grip caught his shoulder, surprising him, and the dark man was pulled far too close, kissing distance. But there was nothing sexual in it as the chalice was pressed against his chest, causing him to jerk back and making his skin crawl. “Look at it. Look!” The dark man glanced down but then flinched, yet couldn’t break free without more force than he wanted to use.

“I… can’t… it’s too wrong!” He groaned, gritting his teeth. “It’s… I can look into the void but not into that!” He’d seen so many things in his life. Eldritch horrors, eyes aplenty, nightmares in human garb. He’d seen them all and accepted them for what they were, yet he couldn’t accept the golden cup. “Please, stop,” he pleaded. His friend hesitated a moment before sighing and tucking the chalice away into his coat. Even a mere piece of fabric made the dark man feel better, as it was hidden from his human eyes. Then, though, his other shoulder was seized.

“Listen. Karl, listen.” Karl swallowed as his gaze was caught by his friends’ intense stare. “Once, you told me you’d do anything for me. Do you still feel that way?” He’d made that promise in a foolish moment, caught up by his friend’s charisma and devotion to his ideals. Yet, even recognizing the foolishness of it, the words had been said and the feelings behind them were still valid.

“Of course, you’re my best friend. I trust you,” Karl said and saw his friend smile. “But Walter, why are you asking?” Was he going to be asked to betray the Church? Karl had no idea what he’d say to that.

“I just need something from you.” What? Karl opened his mouth but then his breath came out in an undignified squeak as he was hit HARD in the chest. Blood rose in his throat and looking down, his horrified gaze rested on his friend’s arm. It was wedged in his chest, but there was no blood and no particular pain, just a strange sensation of pressure. “I need your blood.” The other hand left his shoulder to gently stroke his cheek, as Karl stared fixedly at the arm in his chest. “Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine.” The soothing tone felt like a mockery as his knees buckled, the ground beneath him feeling as shifting as the ocean. Something dark red and glistening was pulled out of his chest as he fell… and didn’t stop falling. His last thought, before he lost consciousness, was full of indignant rage.

_This isn’t fine at all!_


	2. Chapter 2

“I can’t _believe_ this,” Achilles groused, but quietly, as he lifted a box off a train. He hated this with all his heart, yet for the sake of their Master, he didn’t want to get fired. Hektor was there, curse his heart, and he hummed quietly before speaking.

“If you pay for lunch I’ll get the coffin.” What?! Achilles’ head whipped to the side and he saw there was indeed a coffin among the goods they were unloading.

“Deal,” he said instantly. There was undoubtedly a body in it, being delivered to relatives. In his day, no one had done such a thing, but they hadn’t had trains either. Still, it might be rotting and he didn’t care to handle it. Hektor immediately went over to the coffin, calling another strong man to help him while Achilles still had the box. They were carrying it off and ended up loading it into a carriage, under the instructions of the foreman, as he got another box.

 _I can’t believe we’re both here, together, doing manual labor._ This whole mission was a botch in his mind. Gudao had insisted they both come along, in an effort to get them to work together and leave the past behind. Achilles had protested and she’d pointed out, with some justice, that they couldn’t afford such a source of tension in their ranks. Gudao also made a rather good case that Arjuna and Karna had managed to patch up their differences. Achilles didn’t believe it – that seemed like a cold war to him – but the sad truth was, he wasn’t as good at hiding his dislike and getting along as the Indian heroes were.

What really made the mission a botch wasn’t Hektor though. Achilles scowled, thinking about it as he shoved the box onto the cart with a bit of unnecessary force. They had contact with Chaldeas, but something was preventing them from sending any supplies, money, or any backup. Perhaps even worse, they weren’t exactly inside the Singularity. According to Da Vinci’s analysis, this Singularity was layered like an onion and they were stuck in the ‘outer’ layer. So far it’d been almost two weeks and while the Servants didn’t need to eat their Master DID, which was why they were stuck earning money.

 _At least we’re pulling in enough._ Achilles and Hektor had their job unloading trains. Hassan of the Cursed Arm had gotten a job as a short order cook. The last member of their party, Nero, was utterly useless for earning cash. Achilles had been tempted to boot her in the ass a few times already. She’d almost gotten them kicked out of the cheap flat they were renting! _At least we’re a pretty good mix._ Achilles was loathe to admit it because _Hektor_ but they had a good mix of classes and skills, Nero aside. Too bad they couldn’t send her back and get Arjuna instead. Achilles would pay money to watch that snooty prince using his hands. (And he’d do it, too, unlike Nero)

“Lunch break!” The foreman called and Achilles grinned to himself. Master would be there soon with box lunches from the local shop. He was surprised Hektor had forgotten… wait.

“Master isn’t coming is she,” Achilles said, staring at Hektor with deep suspicion as the scruffy bastard ambled up. He looked mildly surprised at the question.

“I thought you knew. She’s helping Nero as a, ahem, handmaiden for some kind of interview.” Damn that bitch! Not Gudao, but Nero. “So what are we having for lunch?” Uggh.

“Let’s go visit Hassan,” Achilles said, giving up. The tavern Hassan cooked at wasn’t too far and they made good pork pies. “Not like I actually have money anyway,” he muttered to himself as they ambled away, taking their time. The next train wasn’t going to be arriving for ages, they had plenty of time to get this one unloaded (now that the corpse was put away). Hektor hummed again softly.

“I admit, that was mostly a joke. At least we can get some lunch.” Yeah, that was good. They mostly did it to fit in… sure, it was a waste of money, but not eating at all could get you labeled a vampire or something. They last thing they needed was to get run out of the place entirely. As they walked through the twisting, narrow, cobblestoned roads, Achilles looked around thoughtfully.

 _This is a pretty place._ Not modern but far from medieval, Da Vinci had tentatively dated the place as 17th century. She had a lot of things to say about _baroque_ and _modern elements_ but Achilles just thought it was pretty. All of the little stone homes they passed had beautiful, clear glass windows set in iron panes with little boxes of flowers. Bright red and white blooms swayed in the breeze and wind chimes were common, tinkling softly as kids ran around and street vendors hawked their wares.

The tavern, when they arrived at it, was completely full of workmen and wage slaves eating lunch. Achilles and Hektor were able to grab pies, though, and it was great outside anyway. Finding a comfortable spot on a low brick wall, they settled in to eat.

Or at least, that was the intention.

“HEKTOR! ACHILLES!” Achilles muttered something foul, noticing as he did that Hektor had reacted to the shrill call by trying to stuff his whole pie in his face in one go. The idiot almost choked. “I have never been so abused in my life! Fawn over me please!”

“Hell no,” Achilles immediately riposted, which made the Emperor pout. Gudako was looking tired and her eyes lit up as they landed on the food. “Hey, Master, want a pie?” Wasn’t like he needed it. She shook her head though.

“I’ll just get my own, please look after Nero for me…” Ewww. Well, if they HAD to. Nero was willing to take the new audience for her woes.

“UMU! Those wretched priests! I was willing to deign them with my beauty but they refused me!” Imagine that. “They said my eyes weren’t good enough! My eyes are perfection, just like the rest of me!” Achilles wasn’t willing to go that far but he had to admit it was an odd thing to say. Nero’s eyes were like beautiful green gems. “They said Master had better eyes than me!” No wonder she’d run off so quickly.

“What a peculiar thing to say. It isn’t true at all,” Hektor said and Nero beamed. But his eyes slid over to Achilles and he knew they were thinking the same thing. That was weird and anything weird deserved investigating.

“They tried to have take Master away from me for ‘further tests’ but I wasn’t having it! That was when we left,” Nero said and Achilles frowned. “We should send Hassan to investigate them tonight.” Achilles was reminded the Emperor was egotistical narcissist, but not stupid. Of course she’d thought the whole thing was strange.

“That sounds good – OOOF!” What was left of Hektor’s pie went flying as he was violently shoved forward, knocked to the ground by another body. Achilles stared in blank shock as the second man – was that a doppleganger? He looked just like Hektor! – landed on the ground in the boneless way of someone who was unconscious or dead.

“Umu?!” Achilles didn’t let Nero’s all purpose exclamation distract him. He kneeled beside the man, turning him over and found his eyes were open and staring. Thin lines of blood were trickling from the corners of his mouth. He looked like he was dead, but then he blinked. Achilles knew they had to act fast.

“Come on, breath!” He said sharply before yanking the man forward and giving him a sharp slap on the back. Maybe it was dumb but it worked as the man choked before suddenly gasping, drawing in a lungful of air. Brown eyes looked at Achilles and he was taken aback at the _rage_ on the stranger’s face.

“You took my blood!” Hands went around his throat with surprising strength. Achilles wasn’t hurting, at all, he just noticed it. “Walter, why?!” Walter? But Achilles was done with this. With extreme ease he broke the hold around his neck, grabbed the man by the lapel and slammed him against a handy wall.

“Stuff it. My name is Achilles. Who the hell are you?” The Hektor look-alike – Achilles vaguely noticed that he was younger than Hektor, a LOT younger, probably younger than himself – glared at him before shutting his eyes.

“No, this isn’t the way,” he murmured, seemingly to himself and Achilles frowned. “You might have taken my blood but you couldn’t take my eyes.” What in HELL was this idiot babbling about? Achilles felt Hektor and Nero flanking him, making sure the stranger couldn’t escape. “I can still see…” He opened his eyes and in one swift movement, pushed forward. Achilles held him easily. “And you’re not real.”

What happened next would easily rank among the strangest sensations Achilles had ever felt. The stranger pushed forward again but instead of holding him in place, Achilles hands passed _through_ him. It was like he was suddenly touching a ghost, or had become one himself and it sent a peculiar, shivery feeling through his body as the stranger went through him in an instant and started to run. He shouldn’t have gone far – the butt of Hektor’s lance flicked out to trip him, Nero was ready to grab him – but they both misted through his body and Achilles sharp eyes picked out the phenomenon. _They turned to pure mana, just for a moment._ The stranger was overriding their summoning, the power of Shiva, to very briefly return them to nothing but the mana that made up their bodies.

Then the man darted down an alley. Hektor and Nero would have followed but Achilles quickly caught up to them and pulled them back.

“There’s no point in chasing him.” Achilles said calmly, still analyzing what he’d seen in his mind. “Da Vinci?” Chaldeas was being rather quiet. That was explained, though, when a much younger female voice answered.

 _She’s on break but I caught that! I caught it all! We have perfect records, Da Vinci will be able to analyze it when she gets back._ Perfect. _Achilles-san is right, there’s no point in following someone you can’t touch._

“You’re right of course, I wasn’t thinking. Hassan can get onto finding that man,” Hektor rubbed his beard thoughtfully. “While Da Vinci works to counter whatever he did.” Sounded like a plan. “Finally, finally, something to sink our teeth into.” Yeah, that was making Achilles feel so much better. Finally getting to fight something, finally getting deeper into the Singularity, gods he was ready. “How strange though, that man looked rather like me – Ah, Master!” Gudao arrived, carrying a meat pie and looking mildly perturbed.

“That line up was terrible – hey, did something happen?” Nero began to energetically fill their Master in and Achilles let her, interrupting only when she was getting it wrong. Then Da Vinci was back and they were discussing the nuts and bolts of the readings, which Achilles didn’t care much about. Then Hektor coughed, politely interrupting the science.

“I’m sorry Master, but we should get back to work.” Oh right. Achilles wasn’t sure it mattered – this HAD to be the lead they needed – but they should still try not to get fired. Gudao cheerfully waved as they left and Achilles was actually feeling cheerful as they got back just in time for the new train to arrive.

Finally, there was going to be some action!


End file.
